Lando Norris Edges Closer to Title as Max Verstappen Takes Las Vegas F1 Race Victory

The McLaren Lando Norris moved nearer to his first world title with second place in the Vegas race following the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

The British driver currently heads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who ended up fourth after the Mercedes of George Russell, by 30 points heading to the penultimate race in Qatar next weekend

Norris will claim the title in the Qatar as long as he doesn't surrender more than five points to Piastri in Losail, or seventeen to Verstappen

The Australian driver, so strong in the opening stages of the championship, has failed to finish on the podium for six races

"Max had a good race. I made the mistake early on and was too punchy on that first turn," said Norris

"It remains a good result to get second place. I've got to congratulate Max and his team"

Following Qatar, the final race of the season takes place in Abu Dhabi on December 7th

The main developments of one of Formula 1's most high-profile races were:

• Lando Norris maintained his momentum towards the championship losing the victory to Max Verstappen

• Piastri's difficult performance streak persisted as his championship chances wane

• A excellent win for Max Verstappen to maintain him in the title fight

• Fightbacks for the two Ferrari drivers, after a difficult qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a single point for 10th following starting at the back

From the beginning, Norris was faithful to his statement that he was "not here to avoid risks" as he battled aggressively to defend his advantage from pole position from Max Verstappen

However following an aggressive move in front of the Red Bull driver to head off the Dutchman's challenge on the inner line, the McLaren driver miscalculated his braking point and ran deep into the corner

That allowed Max Verstappen to overtake into the lead while the British driver lost second place to George Russell

During two virtual safety cars for several opening-lap incidents, including at the start when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson collided with Piastri, Max Verstappen gradually established dominance on the race

Russell undertook an early tire change for the more durable compound, but Lando Norris and Verstappen stayed out

The McLaren driver pitted five laps after the Mercedes and Max Verstappen 10

Verstappen was able to rejoin still in the first place, George Russell having been failed to catch up on the Red Bull even with his newer rubber

Lando Norris rejoined behind Russell from his stop but after a few cautious laps to allow his tires to settle, soon closed his three-point-three second deficit to the Mercedes driver and overtook into runner-up position on lap 34

The British driver inquired his race engineer how to run the rest of his race, essentially asking whether he should accept second place or challenge for the lead

He was told to "chase down Max" but it quickly became apparent he had no chance. Max Verstappen was easily could defend against Norris' attacks, and in the final laps the gap extended substantially as the McLaren began to experience a technical issue which has thus far remained unidentified

Even with losing almost three seconds a lap, Norris was could hold off George Russell because of the size of the lead he had established while chasing Max Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth win of the championship - only one less than the two McLaren drivers - was taken in dominant fashion and maintains him in title contention, at least theoretically, even if he needs problems for Norris in the final two events to pass him

"It remains a significant margin, we always try to maximise everything we've have," Verstappen stated

"During the coming events we will try to win the race and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will see where we finish, but I'm extremely pleased of everyone"

Oscar Piastri began fifth but lost two positions on the opening lap after being hit by Liam Lawson, who was quickly taken out of contention by a damaged front wing

He trailed Liam Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before passing him on the Las Vegas Strip but also out to Leclerc, who he was able to overtake again during the tire change phase

The Australian ended up behind Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who competed almost the whole event on hard tyres after stopping during the first virtual safety car, but was given a five second time penalty for a start-line infringement, which was not clearly visible on video reviews

"It proved to be a frustrating event from essentially beginning to end in certain respects," Oscar Piastri informed BBC Radio 5 Live

Questioned about how he would approach the final two races, he said: "Simply try to put myself in the best position I can. I obviously need quite a lot of factors to favor me now to win, but my only option is ensure I'm in the best position to take advantage if something happens"

Leclerc hung on in sixth place, insufficiently close to benefit from Antonelli's penalty, while Sainz fell to seventh at the finish, his Williams missing the pace to challenge with the top teams in the dry conditions, following his impressive showing to start in third in the wet weather

Hadjar took eighth place before Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg and Hamilton

The seven-time title winner made a strong getaway, up to thirteenth on the opening circuit and continued to move forwards

He became trapped in a DRS train with a bunch of other cars but was able to employ his strong beginning to salvage a championship point after the worst qualifying performance of his career